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The Ruger Air Hawk is a 1000 feet per second pellet rifle with a single-shot cocking mechanism. This spring piston break barrel airgun has a rifled blued barrel and receiver and is crafted with dark hard wood that is sleekly formed into an ambidextrous stock suitable for both right- and left-hand shooters. The Air Hawk rifle is equipped with an adjustable trigger, and a muzzlebrake. When you shoulder this Ruger Air Rifle, you'll notice a comfortable grip, a conveniently placed automatic safety and a rubber recoil pad. The Ruger AirHawk also comes with a 3-9x40 variable power airgun scope that is made to withstand the double recoil action produced by air rifles.

Caliber

Action

Power

Capacity

Total Length

.177 pellet

break barrel

spring

1-shot

44.8

Barrel Length

Weight

Velocity

Trigger Pull

Cocking Effort

18.7

8.16

1000

3.3

30

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Specs

ManufacturerRuger

Caliber0.177 cal

Velocity1000 fps

Airgun MechanismSpring-piston

Ammo TypePellets

Airgun UsePest Control / Plinking /Target Shooting

Barrel StyleBreak Barrel

OpticsScope

Product ConditionNew

Warranty1 Year Limited

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Reviews

Ruger Air Hawk Elite Air Rifle Combo- .177 Cal

4.5 Stars based on 24 Review(s)

Claud

Raleigh, NC

4 Stars

I would recommend this item to a friend.

One of the truly GREAT spring loaded air rifles of today!

January 24, 2014

Received quickly and in great condition from AirGun Depot and at a great price. This rifle is not only a really great piece of engineering and forethought but it is gorgeous to look at and fun to shoot. Right out of the box, cleaned the oil out of the barrel, mounted the scope and within 10 shots, was putting 5 shots into a quarter sized pattern at 10 yards. I fully expect this pattern to tighten up once the rifle has gone through it's break-in period. A truly smooth shooter that I will probably cherish for years to come.

Pros:

Just great to look at and hold and shoot. The well designed stock and added engineering goodies such as a very well designed and properly weighted muzzle break and a really decent scope makes this rifle a weapon to brag about in the accuracy field. I don't think I really have to express the reliability and ruggedness of the weapon since it has been expressed by many air rifle forum users and user ratings on sellers web sites. Will get a really good tuneup on this and expect that it will probably outlast me in useful longevity.

Cons:

There are a couple of drawbacks that I feel the distributors of this rifle should address to rescue it from a lot of criticism. The scope mounts that come with it are the worst I have ever experienced. I was forewarned about this by other users so the first thing I did in mounting the scope was to put a really sturdy, well designed one piece UTG scope mount on it. This probably contributed as much as anything to it's really ready accuracy wonders. The other thing which frustrates me is that the beautiful and very serviceable stock seems to be purposely designed to interfere with easy manipulation of the safety. I finally gave up in frustration and ordered a standard Air Hawk stock to replace the one that came on this since I was already experienced with Air Hawks and know they have superb stocks.
These 2 shortcomings are the only reason I could not give this great rifle a full 5 star rating.

Randy Rigg

Mt.Sterling

5 Stars

I would recommend this item to a friend.

Excellent Gun

January 19, 2014

From the prior reviews first thing that I did was to replace the Scope Rings with one piece Rings and Loctite all screws before even shooting the Gun.

Pros:

I love the big gun feel. The stock fits me perfect and since I am a left hand shooter the ambidextrous stock and safety are perfect. Trigger adjusted to a clean crisp pull. Accurate one hole groups at 30 Yards all day long with RWS Super Domes I will try other pellets later on but I don't see how you can improve accuracy. As on the power I think it is close to a true 1000 FPS gun the way it knocks down steel targets. I had a Gamo Gun I gave $200.00 for it and sold it for $75.00 I hated the minute I took it out of the box! The Ruger is a outstanding gun for the price . Finish and fit are as good as what you would expect in a higher priced Rifle.

Cons:

Quality Control on hardware as on proper torque.

Jim

Connecticut

1 Stars

POS

October 18, 2013

I would never buy another Ruger air rifle or anything else from this brand. I own the 22 cal Air Magnum and shot it for one day back in June with a friend so that we could sight it in. The scope is a POS and you'll find that you need to toss it in the garbage; I used another scope from one of my Crosman guns and it is fantastic until you place it on a Ruger. The Ruger rifle is mediocre at 10-15 yards and terrible beyond that. Just research and read reviews about this brand and you will see how terrible it is - I read a review below that also had their lousy scope that needed to be replaced. Add -$50 to the price of this order if you want to shoot with a scope because you'll have to buy one that works. With the high velocity and poor accuracy of the Ruger I have I will use it to dispose of any animals that get into my house that are caught in a have a heart trap. A 1 foot distance is probably the best distance to shoot a Ruger gun.

Pros:

NONE

Cons:

why would you buy this when you can get a highly accurate Crossman Optimus that shoots at a higher velocity, 1250 fps, is extremely accurate and costs less (around $110)? I own one and use it all the time. My Ruger gun just lays against the wall because it is such a disappointing gun.

Kevin

Virginia

4 Stars

I would recommend this item to a friend.

Playing the Heavy

July 4, 2013

This is a HEAVY weapon. VERY HEAVY. If you are quite fit and strong, you will have no trouble with this rifle. If you aren't, you will enjoy it, too, but initially you will have better luck, probably, sighting it in using a gun rest. I bought shooting bags after I received this Ruger rifle because I found it so hard to stabilize at the range. Guess I need to lift weights... it requires quite an enthusiastic arm motion to cock, too. Otherwise, it is a beautiful piece of work. Note that it has no sights; a scope is mandatory. The scope that shipped seemed to come with a disability: the magnification ring did nothing, so I contacted Umarex and sent it back to repair or replacement.

Pros:

Looks, feel, solidity

Cons:

Need to see a fully functional scope to evaluate it. Cocking force is pretty hefty. Recoil isn't much but the noise is. It's a loud rifle.

Matt

Los Angeles, CA

4 Stars

I would recommend this item to a friend.

Great springer for the price

June 4, 2013

I was looking for a reasonably priced 1000fps air rifle for myself and for familiarizing my wife with rifle shooting. The Ruger Airhawk Elite fit that bill as it's solid, simple to use, fires quite accurately and works well as a cheaper alternative than plinking with a .22
The optics that came with it are pretty nice, and also solidly built so I would hope that they last for a long time.

Pros:

High FPS and fairly tight groups with every pellet tested. After about 50 rounds zeroing/adjusting the scope we were able to hit a bottle cap with ease within the rifle's effective range, over and over. Very nice penetration on targets and good mushrooming of hollow points so as a varmint/hunting weapon it will perform quite well. High Quality wood stock and very simple durable construction of the metal parts.
Break barrel locks into place very firmly with ball bearing and doesn't move when you don't want it to do so.

Cons:

Very heavy action when operating the break barrel pump means sometimes it doesn't move when you want it to. With what feels like about 35-40lbs of pull to get it cocked, my arm was sore after a few hundred shots put through it. This can also be a pro as it means small children wont be accidentally operating this airgun.
My only complaint about this airgun was the low quality dovetail mounts that came with the scope. They were poorly machined, had only one screw instead of 2 on each ring and were not identical so upon initially mounting the scope it was a bit loose and off angle of the bore by many degrees and would have taken up most of the windage adjustment to fix it. I purchased the accushot 1" tube x 11mm high profile dovetail mounts on this site and now it is mounted solidly and straight as a die for less than 200 dollars total. (gun + mounts)

Jeff

Escondido, CA

5 Stars

I would recommend this item to a friend.

Excellent for target practice, and rabbit control

April 19, 2013

Purchased this air gun about a week back. Took a bit of time to get the scope sighted in (zeroed). I configured a shooting rig with a static target at 15 yards in my backyard. Used this static target while zeroing in the scope, took several rounds to get the scope zeroed in. The first shot from this gun is very loud, definitely sounds more like a true .22, subsequent shots were much quieter. The spring action was a bit stiff and seems to have settled in after about 30 shots. I'm consistently hitting groupings of 2" at 15 yards, and I'm not a shooter, haven't shot a gun in many, many years.
This rifle is heavy on initial use. It is very solid and the weight helps dampen the spring in this gun. The spring has a true kick, a much better recoil than any air gun I've ever shot. You most certainly need to "google" for the Artillery Hold and follow the videos. After practicing the Artillery Hold, about 20 shots, I'm able to take down rabbits at 30 yards. The scope once zeroed in is very accurate, I've not needed to loctite the scope rings as of yet. If the scope slips I'll certainly perform the blue loctite application on the scope.
I'm using the RWS Superdome 8.3 gr pellets. This combination works very, very well for rabbits.

Pros:

Great looks, solid feel, accurate. Scope works very well for me.

Dwight O

Lincoln, NE

5 Stars

I would recommend this item to a friend.

Ruger Air Hawk Elite

February 1, 2013

I usually don't do reviews but this rifle is really impressed me to do one. I did all my homework and watched some YouTube videos on it. A lot of people were saying the scope mounts are no good, and the rifle was too heavy. Bothering me a little bit, I decide to go ahead and buy the rifle. I am really impressed with this rifle and if you are thinking about buying this rifle, please go ahead and get it. I have not had one bit of a problem with this rifle.

Pros:

I like the heavyweight of the rifle. The wood stock is really nice on this rifle a lot of nice grain.

Cons:

Dislikes, I have not found one yet.

edward

phila, PA

5 Stars

I would recommend this item to a friend.

Awesome

December 31, 2012

I bought this for my daughter for Christmas. I mounted the scope and began sighting it. With in 20 min, the gun was dead on at 25yards. We were shooting Beeman .177 Cal, 8.53 Grains, Pointed.

Pros:

Easy action, thumb hole stock, and the price (got a great deal from airgun depot).

Cons:

None yet

Tom

SW Michigan

3 Stars

Ruger Air Hawk Elite Combo

February 22, 2012

I got this air rifle after reading all the reviews posted up to about 3 months ago. It is my first air rifle.
I read about the need to get different scope mountings and replace the ones that came with it with UTC mounts with 2 horizontal screws on each mount. I thought the original mounts and the UTC did not match well with the grooves in the top of the rifle. They did not seem to get enough of a grip into the grooves. This was confirmed subsequently when the scope and mounts fell off the barrel not once but 3 times! Today I replaced the mounts with a Gamo one-piece mount that has a one piece bar that grips both sides of the top of the rifle the continuous length of the groove. It is about 4 inches long and has the ring mounts integral to the horizontal base. 3 horizontal screws hold the clamp on the sides. I hope this will hold the scope long enough to get the rifle zeroed in. If not, I will be very disappointed.
Another issue I've had (when the scope stayed on) was that it shot about 6 inches low. On the advice of a friend, I put a pad of about 4 layers of vinyl electrical tape under the tube of the rear mount and this seems to work. I just made that adjustment to the new scope base so will see tomorrow if it helps.
My shot groups have been anywhere from the size of a quarter at 25 feet to as much as 4 inches apart at the same range. I thought it might just be my bad aim so I got a Reminton 22 semi-automatic today and was shooting quarter size groups at 75 feet (on a cold windy day) so I don't think my aim was all that bad, certainly better than the air rifle groups.

Pros:

Nice heft and feel to the rifle.

Cons:

Poor scope mount design.

william

4 Stars

Air Hawk Elite Combo

March 31, 2011

I like this rifle because it looks cool and classier than the Ruger Airhawk. However, when comes to shooting, I prefer the Ruger Airhawk over the Elite version because it is much easier and convenient to deactivate the safety switch in the standard Airhawk than the Elite version. Although the stock of the Elite looks cool, it can be cumbersome or difficult to find the safety switch in the Elite than the standard Airhawk. Due the cool looking stock and the muzzle breaker add-on, this rifle is very heavy and can be difficult to balance if you have a small body frame. Other than that, it is a great rifle. For the open sight shooter, this rifle is not good for it. First, it does not have one. Secondly, even if you consider replacing the powerplant of the Elite with a standard Airhawk powerplant with open sight installed, the stock does not allow head space for you to see through the open sight. So for the open sight shooter, you are better to stick with the standard airhawk. Although I mention alot pro and con for the Elite, the Elite version is still a great rifle for the price because the RWS version costs twice as much. Both Airhawk shoots well, accurately and powerful enough for small games.

scott

5 Stars

Ruger Air Hawk Elite .177 cal.

March 7, 2011

Well, I have had this rifle for about 3 months now and in my opinion it is "hold sensitive". Once you find the correct way in which it likes to be held, WOW!!!! Its incredably accurate with a good number of pellets. (Ive got 17 differant types)
I have 1/4" groups at 20 yds, and 3/8 to1/2" groups at 40 yds, all day long, its quite deadly on squirrels out to 45 yds with the proper pellets. I shoot Crosman Destroyers, Crosman Hollow Points, and Gamo Red Fire on squirrels with 1 shot kills all the time. What more can I say, this is one fantastic gun to say the least!! Scott

VRSchwarz

5 Stars

Ruger - Air Hawk Elite Combo

December 29, 2010

A bit heavy but this is the real deal. With its great feeling SOLID wood stock and steel barrel/reciever this is serious.
Bore sighted mine and I was hitting targets in no time. Bench rest recommended. KaBoom!

VRSchwarz

5 Stars

Ruger - Air Hawk Elite

December 29, 2010

A bit heavy but this is the real deal. With its great feeling SOLID wood stock and steel barrel/reciever this is serious.
Bore sighted mine and I was hitting targets in no time. Bench rest recommended. KaBoom!

Louis

5 Stars

Ruger Air Hawk

November 24, 2010

I found the weapon a little heavy but not unbearable. The scope is adquate for my purposes and was easy to adjust and sight in. I purchased this rifle for varmit control. I was having a problem with several varmits and had to live trap them. The rifle did a good job of disposing of my problem.

steve hesketh

5 Stars

Ruger Air Hawk Elite

October 7, 2010

Just taken delivery of the Air Hawk Elite and what a gun,great quality,very accurate although a little heavy.I have changed the stock scope mount for a good qulity 4 bolt model as the ones supplied are very weak.This solved the problem of creep, apart from that this is a great gun for the money.After a little tuning i was grouping 5 shots at 50 yards within an inch.Great gun,Great qulity,Great price and thats that.

Alberto Isaia

5 Stars

My Ruger

August 18, 2010

Amazing gun got a seagull from a good 100 to 200 yards away ive tuned this gun and adjusted scope, adjusting scope might take some time but once you have it aligned its a great long term shooting gun also good for short range im talking about minimum 50 yards shot a lizard right off a small tree branch

Dsniper

5 Stars

Ruger Airhawk Elite

July 27, 2010

First of, I LOVE THIS GUN!! Here are some pros and cons:
Pros:
Very Accurate
Nice Look
Easy and quick to reload
great scope
great looking and feeling stock w/ thumbhole
Cons:
The scope rings that come with it are quite lacking
a bit on the heavier side (though you get used to it)
I would also like to address some problems that other people have had with this gun.
1) First of, people have said that this guns scope and mount are bad, and every 30 or so shots the scope needs to be re-adjusted. This is somewhat true, but easily remedied. The scope mounts are the biggest contributor, so i bought these rings: http://www.airgundepot.com/accushot-py-635.html. Also, other people have claimed that there is no scope stop, yet the newer guns now have a standard factory mounted scope stop. Problem solved!
2) Older Airhawk Elites had plastic triggers, and some people did not like the feel, yet the newer Airhawk Elites have metal trigger.
Overall this is a great gun. After sighting in the scope with about 10-20 shots, i put 3 rounds in a 2 inch knot of wood in my fence from 20 yards away, standing! It blew the knot clean out. It is quite powerful. The pellets i use are Crosman Destroyers. They are great pellets, good price yet get a few tins as there are only 250 pellets per tin, and believe me if you get this gun you will love it so much you will go through 250 pellets in a day, 2 days tops. If you get the gun, just remember to get better mounts and a lot of pellets! Have fun shooting and be safe, this may kill you!
-Dsniper

Al

4 Stars

The elite package

July 14, 2010

Be sure to rettighten and loctite your scope and parts of the gun remeber this is a high power .177 Its a comfortable shooter with great power and penetration i use the Destroyers 7.9 grains and i keep the scope tight...
good value, but you have to work on thegun abit. don't be scared just tighten and use a bit of loctite and your good.

SHERPA

5 Stars

Elite

June 22, 2010

Great gun, already recommended to my friends.

MIKIE BAILEY

5 Stars

GEORGIA BOY

November 3, 2009

GOT THE GUN TODAY. TOOK 10 MINUTES TO LOCKTITE EVERYTHING, MOUNT SCOPE, AND TO SET UP A TARGET. TOOK 14 SHOTS TO SIGHT IN AT 50 FEET. I BOUGHT THIS GUN BECAUSE I LOVE RUGER. YES THE GUN WAS MADE IN CHINA, BUT BOY WHAT A SHOOTER IT IS !!! I HAD NO PROBLEMS THAT THE OTHER PEOPLE HAD. I'M A FATHER OF TWO, LAND SURVEYOR, AND A LIFE TIME NRA MEMBER. I'VE PUT MANY OF VARMINTS TO THE GROUND WITH .22LR RIFLE'S. THIS GUN UP TO 150 FEET IS JUST AS DEADLY!!! MY 13 YEAR OLD SON GETS ON TO ME FOR HOGGING THE GUN WHEN HE GETS OF THE SCHOOL BUS. MY NEIGHBOR HAS A GAMO RIFLE, AND I CAN PUT HIM TO SHAME!!! NOW I CAN SEE WHY, RUGER WANTS THEIR NAME ON THIS GUN. "AMEN"

Scott

5 Stars

Picky Little Gun

October 11, 2009

Had no trouble sighting in the scope once I started feeding the Air Hawk Elite the kind of pellets it liked.
The only pellets mine will shoot with the accuracy that I demand are the predator polymags. I've tried 6 or 7 different pellets and the polymags are the only pellets that will give me dime sized groups at 15 yards. All other brands gave me 1 1/2 to 2" groups. Don't know if my gun is just picky or if all Air Hawk Elites are the same way?

Matt

4 Stars

Great rifle (with a little work)

September 17, 2009

Pros: Powerful, accurate shooter once sighted in. Price.
Cons: Heavy (could be considered a pro by some). Had a difficult time sighting it in.
Took this rifle out of the box and went out back to sight in the scope. At 25 yards I wasn't even on the target (using a bench-rest). Moved to 10 yards and found I was shooting low. Ran the scope to the max elevation and adjusted the windage. Still shooting low but consistent 1/4" groups, what's up? Remounted the scope with the same results. Since this is my first air gun I did a little research, must be that "barrel droop" issue and everyone complains about the scope mounts so I purchased the RWS one piece scope mount with .025" elevation compensation for barrel droop. Mounted the scope again and what do you know, the thing fires tight patterns at 20 yards but 6" below the aim point. OK time to get serious, I pull out my digital protractor. The barrel is within a tenth of a degree of the receiver, no barrel droop here. Close examination and it hit me like a ton of lead, the RWS mount is longer than the scope rail (which is machined into the receiver), the mount was riding up on the receiver. I modified the front of the mount and now the rifle shoots superbly. Took me four shots to adjust the scope but I took the cap off a soda bottle at 40 yards. Placed one of those little white/red mints on the top of the same bottle and turned it into sugar dust the next shot, the rifle is accurate.
A few other things you should know: This is of course a break barrel air gun, it will vibrate all the fasteners loose. I used a thread locking compound on the compensator and stock to receiver screws. I have not needed to do the same on my scope mount as others have due to the RWS mount (four screws in stead of the usual two). The trigger and safety lever are made of composite material (plastic), I wish at least the trigger was made of aluminum or some metal, the feel would be better. It's hard to anticipate the break point of the trigger when it has so much give in it. Last, THIS RIFLE IS NOT MADE BY RUGER, it is produced in China under license by RUGER. That said it is a good bargain air gun, very accurate and hard hitting (I like using the Predator Polymag pellets) rifle.
All in all a great rifle if you like a heavy feel.

devon west

3 Stars

air hawk

May 19, 2009

great gun...with rws superdomes i put 5 through the same hole at 30 yards...scope drifts after a few shots wich is irritating as hell even after lock- tighting all the scope screws ....i've spent way more shots sighting the thing in than actually playing with it....im taking the scope back and if that dosnt pan out im getting something different....gun itself is awsome....heavy.

Scotty Evers

5 Stars

Ruger Wow

September 22, 2008

The Accuracy of this rifle is great !, at 20 and 30 yard i'm doing about 1/3 inch grouping every time. an at 50 yards 1/2 inch.long disn. shooting I have hit a * target at 100 an 150 yards out, with this rifle (* 11in by 10in ) not to shabie in my book - Scope has a drifting proplem. make sure it tite. the Compensator get lose too, a little bee wax on the treads stoped that. get a bipod it helps, all and all great rifle

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Q&A

By JIM BOAT from Bakersfield,CA. on December 25, 2011

WHAT TYPE OF PELLETS HAVE BEEN MOST ACCURATE FOR MOST EVERYONE ? I'M HAVING TROBLE FINDING ONE...

By Dan from Ambridge, PA. on January 7, 2012

Answer:

I have not had many chances to shoot this baby but in the time i did have , i have found 2 things out for sure.
1: heavy is better than a light pellet
2: pointed then rounded rather than flat nosed pellets
for this pellet rifle of 177 cal works best with these 2 points of interest.
iI will try to update this as i learn more.
My freinds were enveious that out of the box after a couple of shots I was shooting as well or better than them. LOL